


Death's calling chant is a cold kiss to the soul

by Unseen_Academical



Series: Stand alone pieces [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25727581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unseen_Academical/pseuds/Unseen_Academical
Summary: After years of research, Moriarty finally gets the object of his obsession in his grip. Little chance he'll ever let go.
Relationships: Sebastian Moran/Jim Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty
Series: Stand alone pieces [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1867708
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Death's calling chant is a cold kiss to the soul

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a merlock prompt.

‘Show it to me.’ He demanded.

The small basement was mostly dark, the flickering lights barely enough to recess the shadows to the corners. What little could be seen had the bare, dry look of any disused storage rooms.

The mariner pushed awkwardly past the poncey little man and pulled off the heavy tarpaulin, revealing the object of the man’s ravenous curiosity. It fell and pooled, to show a tall glass cylinder framed in sturdy bolted metal. A tank, and a pretty sturdy one at that. A glimpse at the content would have convinced any onlooker there was not one bolt too many. Cramped in the too tight space, floating unconscious was a monster of legend: half human, and with the long and powerful tail of a sea creature.

In the sick light emitted by the tank, the mariner fidgeted. He was used to the sea, to its cruelty and the deep horrors of its blackness. But the man in front of him… He frightened him. Any one ought to have recoiled in horror at the sight of this tank. But he just stood there, watching, with the greenish light reflecting in his unblinking dark eyes and small smile etched on his face.

In one moment of clarity, the mariner wondered on what side of the glass the monster stood. 

* * *

’Father?’ Jim called softly, unwilling to trigger the man’s fiery rage on him.

His father ignored him, rose, and walked out of the cabin. Jim was left alone among the straining, creaking sound of the boat against the waters. Something was confusing, but he could not quite place it. A chill got him, and he moved to close the little porthole his father had left open before going to sleep. That’s when he caught it. A faint otherworldly melody, that sank in his bones and skull. He shook his head to clear it and heard a faint laughter. He peeked down the waters, and despite the darkness it looked like he could make out moving shapes in the inky waves.

Jim dashed after his father.

He found him walking the length of the bridge. The faint music was stronger here, like a caress against his back and a hand around his heart. It was a strange feeling. He looked in puzzlement at the foreign way his father moved, like a man on a leash being slowly tugged forward. He could have caught up with him a thousand time as he walked up to the parapet. He could have grabbed him as those hands that had so often bruised his skin took hold of the parapet to climb it. Really, he could have dragged his father down as he balanced above the dark sea. He only ran not to miss the body sinking into the waters.

But what he saw was so much better than he’d have expected. About three or four creatures had gotten hold of his old man’s body and were ripping it apart joyfully. They were tearing flesh from bones and gouging themselves, blood simmering up and around as their frantic movements had the water like a boiling cauldron.

At one point one of them looked up to him and stilled long enough for Jim to carve the image in his brain. The features of a human, with too long and too many pointed teeth, painted in blood, flesh and seaweeds. Then it dove after its companions, a long tail arcing out the waters to disappear into the inky depth. 

* * *

Jim had not moved a muscle as the reminiscence washed over him. Not even blinked as the seed of his now fully bloomed obsession came back to him. He just stood, contemplating at last the results of years of research and work finally coming to fruition.

‘Erm, about my payment…’ The mariner cut through, with an obvious worry in his voice.

‘What about it?’ Moriarty snapped, focusing back on the man.

‘This beast took out four of my crewmates before we could subdue it.’ The mariner spit out quickly. ‘It would be nice to have something to give their widows and children.’

‘Everything is arranged. See this with my secretary on your way out.’

The man did not linger after that, probably eager to escape his presence. He was, after all, as much of a legend as the creature in front of him. And nobody that met him lived to tell the tale either. He smirked and pressed his hand to the glass.

The creature inside moved feebly. It was obviously powerful, with a tail twice the length of its body. But the long captivity in the small cylinder, until the boat could make it to the port, must have taken a toll on it. Its eyes fluttered open, steel blue and drained. Its features were obviously male, with scales eating up the pale skin about the waist. The scales and fins were a mesmerising grey-blue, that seemingly caught something of the sky in thunder.

It was magnificent, and he was going to enjoy breaking it. 

‘You are going to need a bigger tank.’ Jim whispered softly through the glass.

* * *

Amazing artwork by SpeculativeCorvid of this fic futhered in a Seb and Jim pairing!

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wrote this with Sebastian in mind as the merman. But in the end I saw the description could fit Sherlock just as well.  
> It is up to your own imagination to pick your favorite.  
> Sincerly yours,  
> UA


End file.
